4 Surprising Ways Teaching Prepared Me for Motherhood

Last updated on February 10th, 2024 at 02:33 am

“Are you a mom?” one of my first graders inquired.

“No,” I replied.

“Do you shop?” was her follow-up question. I answered in the affirmative. Yes, I do participate in the economy in this way.

“Then you’re a mom!” the student declared. The matter was settled.

Leaving teaching for motherhood (and other aspirations)

Almost a decade passed between the time I was pronounced a mom–by merit of shopping– to the actual moment I held my baby in my arms.

In between then and now, dozens of children had accidentally called me “mom.” As an elementary teacher, the students had given me experiences that made me feel rather like a mom. I had dried many tears, bandaged many wounds (both very real and very imaginary), tied more shoes than I could count.

And now I’d finally get to see how these moments in the classroom shaped my view and practice of motherhood.

I transferred many of these lessons learned to the home, where I cared for my baby. A few of them came as a surprise:

1. Teaching numbed me to relatively shocking instances

I was a college teaching intern when I witnessed a second-grader plunk colorful cap erasers into his Gatorade, one by one, like coins in a slot machine. He then shook up the concoction and tried to drink it.

That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen… I thought.

I’d think that every day for the next year or so until I was no longer weirded out by the unorthodox actions of kids. My reaction to the eccentricities, quirks and downright shocking behaviors of these students started to blunt, to fuzz over.

Certain instances weren’t that weird anymore. In fact, Miss Frizzle herself could probably land her Magic School Bus in our classroom for an intensely hands-on learning experience, and I’d be shrugging my shoulders like, “It’s just another Wednesday.”

I unconsciously approached motherhood with this unbothered fortitude.

Granted, it took a while to settle in. The uncertainties of the newborn stage rattled me– much like when I was a first-year teacher, shaking in my sensible flats. But as she grew up, and I grew into my mothering role, I could see how years spent in the classroom had softened my edges.

You’d like to carry around that piece of trash you found and use it as a toy? How resourceful and creative! I’d think, because I’d witnessed this before.

Maybe it’s simply a result of making it to the toddler stage. Other moms seem to be less fazed at this juncture as well. But I still maintain that I’ve been weathered and wizened from my years in the classroom, which translates to more chill with my own kid.

2. Teaching other children helped me recognize behavior patterns in my own child

I once tried to calculate how many kids I’ve taught, and the numbers were so astronomical that I just gave up.

Also, I have little endurance when it comes to math problems.

But from teaching full-time for five years and then substitute teaching in hundreds of classrooms for years as well, I’ve seen some things.

I’m a decent name-learner, but I still get tripped up if a student reminds me of another student I had. This happens a lot, because even though each person is unique, there are qualities that repeat.

I’ve begun to notice patterns of behavior and personality. Social patterns, too. As a substitute teacher, I’m exposed to so many sets of children for just a brief period of time– my mind can’t help but to categorize, compare, and in general, make observations. It’s part of how I come up with a game plan for teaching in some pretty unexpected scenarios. (Ever had to teach dance on the fly to rowdy fifth grade boys? Heh, guess who has…)

With my own child, I’m finally getting to know this little person I’ve wondered for so long about. As my daughter’s personality emerges, I take a stance of both awe and familiarity. I’ve probably seen this behavior in some form before. In my own daughter? That part is new.

Recognizing behaviors in my daughter and connecting it to behaviors I’ve encountered with students helps me to respond. Since I’ve experienced the behavior before, I have a bank of response memories. I can chuck the ineffective reactions, try an effective reaction, or experiment with a new approach.

Teaching so many different kids for so long makes me feel like it’s not my first rodeo, even though with my own child, it is.

3. My teaching experience gives me an idea of academic milestones

I didn’t formally teach infants, toddlers of preschoolers.

I did teach first grade. (And 2nd, 3rd, and 4th). So though I’m not familiar with the milestones for my daughter’s age yet, I know where she’s heading.

As a teacher with a particular interest in teaching reading, I have ideas for how to promote literacy in our home. I have supplies left from my days in the classroom that aid my daughter and I in our learning quest.

Nonteacher parents can also be great at guiding their child’s learning, too. I’m not saying they have any difficulty. But I think my teaching knowledge gives me an advantage, a head start. As someone who has already conducted a lot of research on the topic, I can delve deeper. I can come up with a plan based on experience.

As a first grade teacher, I was ecstatic if any student coming in had any sort of reading life at home. Trips to the library, learning letters and sounds from parents or programs, read alouds from mom or dad– all of these got me over-the-moon excited.

Now that I have ideas from my teaching days, I’m pursuing cultivating a reading life with my daughter. It’s not fancy or stringently planned, but I ensure our days are filled with reading stories together (and independently), picking books at the library, and even giving my daughter a chance to see me read to myself.

4. Teaching familiarized me with children’s books

Who’s that mom pretzeled into a crisscross position on the floor reading a “Pigeon” book at a classroom-level decibel to her one child?

Oh… that’s me.

Teaching and reading to kids for much of the twenty-tweens has helped me to get to know children’s books with a pretty deep familiarity.

In fact, I chose a children’s book theme for my daughter’s baby shower. One of the games was based entirely on children’s book knowledge.

Why is this important for parenting, you might ask?

In my younger years, I assumed all books marketed toward children were literary gold. Curl up in my lap, little one, and let’s read it!

Recently, I opened up a picture book from my mountainous stack I had amassed from teaching. I started to read it to my daughter, but it was borderline creepy. (No wonder it was relegated to the FREE stack in our teacher’s lounge.)

Other books try to rhyme and just can’t. The rhythms of the texts don’t partner up well. At an age where it’s important to be teaching my daughter rhyming words, I’m going to choose other texts before these less cadent titles.

For proper rhymes and a wide-ranging vocabulary, I can usually count on classics. But the classics are quite… senior. The original Curious George? An excellent tale of a monkey’s curiosity and mischief. The Man in the Yellow Hat goes to great lengths to rescue George multiple times from his predicaments, but in the end pens George up in the zoo.

(Earlier in the book, he also gives George a pipe to smoke! Read this one to your toddler if you dare to have a preliminary discussion on monkey tobacco use!)

I also know which books tend to make kids laugh and study and keep asking for.

For simple hilarity, try anything by Mo Willems. The Pigeon series are a household favorite.

Dr. Seuss is the king of rhymes– who cares if he made up words? (Parsing nonsense words is actually an early literacy skill.) The legend dared to rhyme noothgrush with toothbrush!

For books with a predictable and repetitive set of actions that children tend to love, try “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Eric Carle.

If I could obtain another academic degree studying children’s books for free, I probably would. I’m glad to impart some of this knowledge to my daughter.

From teacher to mom

Has teaching made me a better mom?

Like better than other people?

No way. But I think I am a better mom than I would have been without teaching.

Even though there’s plenty of new events and instances that come with parenting, some of this feels like an echo of what I’ve experienced earlier in life.

Maybe teaching wasn’t just a fulfilling career– it was a training program for when I’d be raising my own little one.

And I have thousands of children to thank for that.

Teachers-turned-parents: Do you agree that there are some aspects of teaching that informed your parenting? Let me know in the comments!